


Outside Help

by CommanderTabbyCat



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett, Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Discworld, But allows him to work on cases for The Greater Good, Case Fic, Crossover, M/M, Murder Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shades of Reluctant Buddy Cop Dynamic, Vimes hates Sherlock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 05:04:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6786361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderTabbyCat/pseuds/CommanderTabbyCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The man was good. Vimes would rather have walked on hot coals than have to admit it, but it was true. His methods worked. They shouldn't, but they did. And they were getting desperate. This was the fourth murder, and no trace of the killer. At this point, turning down assistance would be irresponsible.<br/>Vimes cursed internally. He hated the man. Everything about him set Vimes' teeth on edge. But he would get the job done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Outside Help

Commander His Grace Sir Samuel Vimes was not happy.  
His day hadn't been going badly, right up until the point where he had marched into the Watch House. Oh, certainly, this murder case was a thorny one, but nothing - he was emphatic about this - absolutely nothing his men couldn't handle.  
Until today.  
It was evident that something was up the minute he walked in. Most of his officers, on seeing him, suddenly became very preoccupied with what they were doing. It was Carrot who flashed him the look, apology written all over his face.  
Vimes knew, then. Without a shadow of a doubt, he knew.  
'Captain?' He asked, his tone grating a little, 'What's happened?'  
'Another of the murders, sir. Or at least we think it is. An alchemist this time; blown up by one of his experiments. We can be sure it's our man. The thing is, sir...'  
'Yes?'  
Carrot squirmed. 'The thing is, we - well, the boys and I thought - we could get the job done quicker if we brought in some outside help.'  
Vimes exhaled. Yep, there it was. He looked around the room. 'And the rest of you? You all agreed to this?'  
There was a general muttering. The consensus seemed to be that, yes, it had been agreed on.  
Vimes turned back to Carrot. 'Carrot - '  
'Sorry, sir.'  
'Carrot, this is the fourth time you've let that smarmy git work with us. He's not even an official Watch member.'  
'I know, sir. But you have to admit, his methods work. He was the one who tracked down Teatime...'  
'He still got away!'  
'... Yes, sir, but you have to admit... and then there was the Selachii's boot boy...'  
'That was just luck!'  
'Really, sir? And the apple seller? And what about...'  
'Fine. Fine. Point taken.'  
'We just thought, sir, well... we could use all the help we can get. It's a tricky one, this, you have to admit. I know you don't see eye to eye with...'  
'The man's a - a slimy posh bastard! Carrot, you know I don't hold with his type.'  
'I know, sir, but look at it this way. He helps us solve the crime, the Watch gets the credit. We've been having some trouble, lately, what with the unsolved ones, and there was that section in the Times...'  
'All right!' The Times didn't usually cause Vimes a great deal of concern, but he had to admit, however reluctantly, that Carrot had a point.  
The man was good. Vimes would rather have walked on hot coals than have to admit it, but it was true. His methods worked. They shouldn't, but they did. And they were getting desperate. This was the fourth murder, and no trace of the killer. At this point, turning down assistance would be irresponsible.  
Vimes cursed internally. He hated the man. Everything about him set Vimes' teeth on edge. He wasn’t even co-operative, and last week he’d managed to upset poor corporal Ephraim Cumberbatch by sniggering at his name. But he would get the job done.  
'Fine.'  
Carrot looked relieved. 'Thank you, sir.'  
'Just make sure I don't have to work with him too much. And he's to do as we say; none of this running around investigating behind our backs.'  
'Of course, sir.'  
Vimes sighed heavily. He had to concede, anything that would be an asset to them in getting this case solved wasn’t to be sneezed at. That didn’t mean he had to happy about it.  
He could only hope they were making the right decision.

**Author's Note:**

> To any readers who have got this far and intend to carry on, thank you and welcome!  
> I'm hoping that now I've got this first chapter posted it'll give me enough incentive to be regular with future chapter updates. A couple of trivia points:  
> I liked the idea of Teatime being Discworld's equivalent of Moriarty. In a lot of ways I think they're made of similar villain stock - the mannerisms are similar, their M.O. lies in defeating someone by destroying others' belief or trust in them, and so on. But I also couldn't divert from Discworld canon in which he's defeated by Susan, so my idea was to have Sherlock prevent him from pulling off something particularly nasty, but for Teatime still to evade him and the Watch. (Of course, this is assuming that the Watch would be able to nab him at all, since he apparently abides by Guild law.)  
> Ephraim Cumberbatch is intended to be the son of Silas, the town crier. In my head he is, ironically, very softly-spoken. He may or may not show up again outside the context of a throwaway gag.


End file.
